SUNRISE, FL – Sergei Bobrovsky turned the puck over on the first shift and recovered. He lost his stick for 30 seconds at one point and still made saves. Connor McDavid He took six shots at the net and none of them went in.
Bobrovsky put on a masterclass against McDavid and every other player who dared to test him and his teammates attacked when they had the chance. As a result, the Florida Panthers are off and coming in the Stanley Cup Final.
With the goalkeeper everyone simply calls “Bob”, unbeatable in stopping all 32 shots he faced from all angles and in all situations, in one of the most memorable playoff goalkeeping performances in recent history and thanks to the goals by Carter Verhaeghe and Evan Rodrigues, the Panthers. beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 on Saturday night in Game 1 of the best-of-seven NHL championship series.
“It’s fun to play those guys, those elite guys, and it’s a fun atmosphere,” Bobrovsky said. “I’m alive for opportunity and I enjoy every second of it.”
Shouts of “Bobby! Bobby! repeated themselves over and over as Bobrovsky dodged several breakouts, stopped McDavid when the reigning and three-time MVP went into turbo mode and flew around and outside the crease to make the Florida net an impenetrable fortress.
Bobrovsky, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner for his outstanding regular-season play, recorded his second loss in this series and third in the playoffs of his 14-year career. Thanks to him, the Panthers has an advantage in the World Cup final for the first time in franchise history and are now three wins away from hoisting hockey’s sacred trophy for the first time.
It didn’t even matter that they were defeated 32-18. Back in the finals for the second consecutive season and healthier and more prepared for the moment than in the five-game loss to Las Vegas a year ago, Florida showed that experience on this stage is important, dealing with pressure and tense moments like the majority of its players. I’ve been here before.
“We kind of know what it takes this year,” Verhaeghe said. “We know how challenging it is, the ups and downs of the playoffs and how difficult it is. I think it makes us more equipped this year.”
Verhaeghe and Rodrigues’ goals came on the first five shots on net against Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner, who sat out because of a slow backcheck and a missed rush for the puck. Skinner, who has had his ups and downs this postseason and whose game seemed like the biggest question of the serieshe would hardly be blamed for any of them.
“Lots of things to like,” McDavid said. “We didn’t give up much, (but) what we did give up was dangerous.”
Edmonton controlled much of the game 5-on-5, extended its dead penalty streak to 30 and its power play did just about everything right except the score. Despite all this, the Oilers are behind in this core group led by McDavid and Leon Draisaitl’s first Finals appearance.
“We know we’re going to have to get even better,” coach Kris Knoblauch said. “There are things we will have to look at and try to increase those chances.”
It is a series that presents the greatest distance between teams facing each other for the World Cup, surpassing the previous record set in 2011 by Boston and Vancouver. The trophy was placed on the ice before the puck was dropped, much like the league did when lighting it in the empty stands of Edmonton four years ago when the playoffs were being held in pandemic bubbles.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” Rodrigues said of the NHL Cup debut at pre-final ice level for the first time since the 1960s. “That was a little chilling and a really cool moment. It was a really nice touch, I’m not going to lie.”
This was the opposite of that eerily silent scene more recently from 2020, with a sellout crowd of 19,543 screaming fans, prepared for a fifth straight final with a Florida team. While 20 playoff games have been played in Canada over the past 20 seasons, this was the 22nd in the Sunshine State in that span.
Another is scheduled for Tuesday when these teams return for Game 2.
“It’s a long series,” Bobrovsky said. “We will reset, refocus and prepare for the next fight.”
